St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-06
THE RAILWAY FsoRRoR.
Graphic Account of the Catastrophe
by Passenger on the Train.

CLEVELAND. o., Jan. 5.-The following
additional details of yesterdays wreck on
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad near Tiffin
are furnished by a special dispatch, The
frightful wreck on the Baltimore q Ohio
railroad near Republic yesterday is still the
prevailing topic Of conversation. The chief
part relates to fixing the responsibility. 1t
is openly charged that the engineer of the
freight was intoxicated. Whether this is
true or not is not positively known. One
thing is certain, and that is that great
share of the responsibility, if not all Of it,
rests upon the conductor and engineer of
the freight They knew they were ell
croaching on the time of the limited express
before their train came to q StandStill.
ROBERT MC'ADOO.
the well-known miller of Tiffin was Oh the
Inflated train and made the following
statement concerning the accident to re-
porter to-day:
l had been visiting friends in Washington
county and started home on Monday morning.
coming by way of Wheeling and Bellaire. ]
came from Bellaire to Newark on an accom-
mediation, and at IL o'clock Monday night
boarded the fast train at the latter place,
taking a seat near the center of the coach.
behind the smoker and on the left hand side
of the car. The coach was well filed, there
being quite number OF ladies and children.
The train was on time at Newark and had
quite a successful run, stopping only ut Mt.
Vernon, Mansfield, Chicago junction and
Shelby. | heard the engineer
BLOW THE WHISTLE
for the road crossing just west of Republic,
and realizing that | was nearing home, |
raised to my feet buttoned my Overcoat and
secured my satchel preparatory to alighting.
While thus engaged | felt the sudden appl-
cation of the air brakes, followed instantly
by the jar of the reversal of the engine
Mechanically ! dropped into the seat, and re-
alizing that something was about TO happen L
grasped the back OF the seat in front of me
and braced myself for the coming shock. All
this occupied but moment, aud
do not think three seconds
elapsed from the application Of the
brakes until the shock came. was thrown
from my feet by the force OF the shock, but
did not lose my presence Of mind. In fact, [
had not time to realize my danger until it was
past. Great excitement prevailed among the
passengers in the car, particularly the ladies,
although no one was hart beyond slight
bruises. | turned my attention 10 pacifyng
the women, when ! heard some one cry fire
The front of the car was crushed in, but 1
could see no evidence Of flames. l raised a
window, and locking out and forward 1 saw
Tt E SMOKE AND FLAMES
bursting from the windows Of the smoker, /
then hurried the passengers from the car in
which we were. as the fire was beginning to
make its appear at the forward end. The
ladies passed out hrst and L thii k | was the
last person TO leave. I know thee was no
one left in the car, and so answered the in
quiry OF the conductor when L stepped to the
ground. Not FIVE minutes had elapsed
since the moment of the col
lsion. yet the interior of the
smoker was a seethIug furnace, in which life
could not have been sustained for an instant,
the smoke pouring from the windows and the
49,
satisfaction to the friends of those who lost
their lives in that Inflated car. My belief is
that all or nearly all were killed instantly and
no one suffered lingering death for the rea-
son that life IN the car would have been i'm
possible four minutes after the collision oc-
CURED.
NOTICED MRS. POSTLETHWAITE
and her two children before the accident and
observed also that she among the first
to leave the car. at the point where the ac-
cident occurred there is cut six feet deep,
and when | came out of the car [ saw that
the women and children were at the bottom
OF this | assisted several of them up, in
Guiding Mrs Postlethwaite, and started them
back along the line of the sleeperS. They
were all placed in these coaches except lit
tie daughter of Mrs. Postlethwaite, whom
some one carried to Republic, Il distance of
half mile, where she was afterward found
by her frantic mother. We then pushed
the sleepers back to protect them from the
other cars which were rapidly burning. | am
firmly OF the opinion that mere lives were
lost than have been reported. 1t is known
that but two persons escaped from the
smoker. ! bad occasion to look into the car
after leaving Newark and noticed that is was
all filled their being apparently from thirty
five 10 fifty passengers. 1t is possible, of
course that all but twelve or fifteen of these
left the train at Mt. Vernon and Mansfield,
and that there were no additions but don't
deem it probable.
CORONER LEPHER
will not hold an inquest for day or two
yet. He has arranged with the undertaken
at Republic to keep the bodies of the I'M
fortunate passengers until Saturday. If
they are not claimed they will be buried in
one grave. There was PENNSYLVANIA
German in the smoker, who escaped UNI
hurt, walked south about four miles to
ROckaway station and came to Tiffn on
the Pennsylvania road. He was sitting
about the middle of the car smoking his
pipe when the crash came. His seat was
Wrenched from the floor, and, with its Oc-
cupant, hurried through an opening in the
top of the car and landed in SnOwdrift.
The man was not hurt in the least. The
scene of the wreck is fast losing its
horrible shape, and by noon to-day
every veStige of the disaster had
disappeared. The track which was torn up
for twenty yards has been replaced The
dismantled engines and broken cars have
all been removed, and traffic is again re-
sumed. All that remains to tell the tale is
q few chawed timbers, which are being
covered to-day by the gentle snow. and the
horribly burned trunks of nine bodies.
which were disfgured beyond recognition.
A BRUTAL EMPLoYE.
CHICAGO, Jan. 5.-The conduct of some
of the local employees of the Baltimore &
Ohio road is made subject of comment
by all the morning papers. None of the
a officials of the road are stationed here. and
: the station master and other local employees
pursued line Of conduct which is severely
criticized by the papers and which. it is
declared. could only have met the serious
disapproval of responsible officials AnX-
ious relatives crowded the station during
the day, but, despite their fearful in
ouries, could obtain no information
as to the arrival of trains from
the scene of the wreck. The wrecked
train arrived at the Baltimore &
Ohio depot at 1890 o'clock this morning.
Very few friends of the passengers were
waiting to meet them. as they could not
learn of its coming. One of the first men
to be helped off was Harry G. Forester. His
head was bandaged and his left arm broken
No sooner had he alighted from a coach
than an employee named BURNER grabbed
him. The railroad man roughly hustled
the injured passenger toward the baggage
room at the depot. Don't give your
name" yelled BURNER, as several news